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A&E overflows as trolley queue grows at Tallaght Hospital

Tallaght based Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe has called on the Tánaiste and
Minister for Health Mary Harney to visit Tallaght Hospital’s A&E department
and explain to staff, patients and residents of Tallaght and its hinterland
why there are nearly three times more patients on trolleys there than any
other hospital in the state. His call comes after the Irish Nurses
Organisation revealed that 75 patients are on trolleys at Tallaght Hospital
and the day ward has had to close to cater for the over-spill from the A&E.
Deputy Cowe said that a number of patients have been on trolleys for over
eight days.

Deputy Crowe said, “The crisis at Tallaght A&E seems to be limping on and
on. The patients, staff and residents of Tallaght and its hinterland are fed
up with excuses and promises and are simply demanding that the problem be
solved. Minister Harney can no longer get away with the excuse that she is
new to the job. The situation has got significantly worse since she took
over more than a year ago now.

“What is required is a capital investment programme to provide more beds to
deal with the increasing number of patients and to recruit additional nurses
to reduce the pressure on the existing staff. Rather than talking about the
proposed medical assessment unit the Minister needs to act on the plans to
deal with the bottle-neck in the A&E that is now overflowing into other
sections of the hospital.

“Tallaght hospital is ideally situated for an extension with acres of
land available on site to be built on. And money should not be a problem
with an unexpected extra in tax of €2.5 billion in the Government coffers
this year. So the land is there and the money is there; all that is lacking
is the political will.

“Mary Harney has had absolutely no positive impact on the crisis in our
hospitals and has failed as a Minister for Health. She needs to come to
Tallaght to see for herself the extent of the problem and she should explain
to the staff, patients and residents of Tallaght and its hinterland why
there are nearly three times more patients on trolleys in Tallaght than any
other hospital in the state. Today’s news comes less than a month after I
highlighted the situation were a friend of mine spent eight days on a
trolleys in a serious condition. It is an indictment on the Minister that we
are in this appalling situation four years after the INO first highlighted
this problem.” ENDS